45/. 5 
59c 


WASHINGTON 


May,  1909 


S  Yol.  XX,  No.  5 

V 

Q- 

yl 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST  * 

Homes  are  being  made  for  Millions  of  People  in  the 

Arid  West 

By  C.  J.  Blanchard 
Statistician,  U.  S.  Reclamation  Service 


THE  Call  of  the  West  comes  to  us 
today  insistent  and  inviting. 
Formerly  it  was  a  Call  of  the 
Wild,  a  voice  from  out  a  vast  wilderness 
of  mountains,  deserts,  and  plains. 

The  iron  horse  has  conquered  distance 
and  the  barriers  long  interposed  by  vast 
spaces  of  waterless  desert  have  been 
thrown  down.  Irrigation  canals  long 
enough  to  girdle  the  globe  with  triple 
bands  have  spread  wide  oases  of  green 
in  the  arid  places.  Cheerful,  prosperous 
communities  dot  a  landscape  once  vacant 
and  voiceless. 

The  Great  Plains  invite  the  scientific 
farmer  to  overcome  the  lack  of  rain  by 
intelligent  methods  of  cultivation  and 
wisdom  in  seed  selection. 

The  unsurveyed  and  unexplored  moun¬ 
tains  await  the  prospector  to  disclose 
mineral  riches  untold.  Countless  streams 
rushing  downward  from  snowy  summits, 
unchecked  and  uncontrolled,  lure  the  en¬ 
gineer  to  harness  and  utilize  for  the  needs 
of  commerce  the  power  now  wasted.  The 
desert  —  mysterious,  silent,  expectant, 
quivering  under  cloudless  skies- — holds  a 


promise  of  freedom  and  independence  to 
the  careworn  and  discouraged.  It  offers 
the  uplift  of  unmeasured  distances  and 
the  individual  home  with  that  broader 
freedom  of  action  which  comes  with  life 
in  the  open. 

May  not  the  influence  of  its  far-flung 
horizons  and  its  true  perspective  be  po¬ 
tential  in  character  moulding  and  build¬ 
ing?  The  cradle  of  our  civilization  was 
rocked  in  the  desert.  Plato  and  Socrates 
dreamed  their  dreams,  imbibed  their 
splendid  imagery  and  stately  rhetoric  in 
a  rainless  land.  May  not  our  own  desert 
develop  new  systems  of  ethics  and  morals 
to  lead  us  back  from  the  material  to  the 
spiritual,  into  ways  of  gentleness  and  sim¬ 
ple  living. 

Untouched  by  plow,  unleached  by  rain, 
the  desert  holds  fast  the  accumulated 
fertility  of  ages.  It  awaits  the  quicken¬ 
ing  kiss  of  canal-borne  water  to  yield 
abundant  harvests  and  to  provide  homes 
for  millions  of  our  people. 

No  national  work  is  of  more  impor¬ 
tance  today  than  that  of  reclaiming  for 
home-builders  an  empire  which  in  its 


*  An  address  to  the  National  Geographic  Society,  April  2,  1909. 


404 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


present  state  is  uninhabited  and  worth¬ 
less.  To  those  who  dwell  on  the  Atlantic 
slope  it  seems  a  far  cry  to  the  Great 
American  Desert  in  which  this  work  is 
going  forward.  Our  country  is  of  such 
vast  extent,  and  the  desert  is  so  little 
known,  that  the  average  Easterner  gives 
but  slight  heed  to  this  particular  phase 
of  our  industrial  development,  dismissing 
the  subject  as  of  no  personal  moment.  A 
more  careful  consideration  of  all  the  fac¬ 
tors  involved  in  national  reclamation 
makes  it  apparent  that  in  many  essential 
particulars  the  creation  of  a  new  com¬ 
monwealth  in  the  arid  West  possesses 
features  of  interest  to  every  manufactur¬ 
ing  city  in  the  East.  The  completion  of 
each  engineering  work  initiates  agricul¬ 
tural  development.  Compact  farming 
communities  are  quickly  established  in 
the  zones  of  irrigation ;  villages,  towns, 
and  cities  follow.  Railroads  extend  their 
branches  to  the  remotest  limits  of  the 
new  country,  bringing  the  commerce  of 
the  world  to  new  markets.  In  a  financial 
way  every  large  manufacturer  in  the 
East  is  interested  in  the  development 
which  is  thus  promoted.  For  many  years 
to  come  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
settlers  must  look  to  the  East  for  what 
they  wear,  for  machinery  of  all  kinds, 
for  many  of  the  necessaries  and  most  of 
the  luxuries  they  require. 

HOMES  FOR  ONE  MILLION  FAMILIES 

Viewed  from  other  than  the  commer¬ 
cial  aspect,  the  work  of  reclamation  is  of 
national  interest,  because  it  will  tend  in 
some  measure  to  relieve  the  overcrowd¬ 
ing  and  congestion  of  older  settled  por¬ 
tions  of  the  country.  A  conservative 
estimate  is  that  30,000,000  acres  of  land 
will  be  reclaimed  in  the  arid  West.  On 
this  basis  there  will  be  homes  on  the 
land  for  more  than  a  million  families. 
Each  family  on  the  farm  will  support 
another  family  in  the  urban  communities 
which  will  rise  in  these  new  agricultural 
districts. 

Looking  forward  to  1950,  when  our 
population  is  likely  to  be  150,000,000, 
who  can  measure  the  importance  of  a 
work  which  will  guarantee  homes  and 


employment  for  ten  millions  of  people, 
and  which  will  bring  into  cultivation  such 
a  vast  food-producing  area. 

National  reclamation  gave  a  wonder¬ 
ful  impetus  to  private  enterprise,  and  as¬ 
tonishing  success  in  the  settlement  of 
large  areas  has  followed  the  efforts  of  a 
number  of  corporations  working  in  con¬ 
junction  with  state  governments.  There 
is  more  activity  on  the  part  of  individ¬ 
uals  in  irrigation  work  today  than  in  any 
previous  time  in  our  history.  The  de¬ 
velopment  and  growth  of  our  arid  states 
and  territories  during  the  past  five  years 
have  been  amazing.  Land  values  have 
steadily  risen  and  the  much-desired  sub¬ 
division  of  large  holdings  is  increasing 
with  the  rise  in  values.  I  believe  the 
time  will  come,  and  at  no  distant  day, 
when  the  big  land-owner  will  be  regarded 
as  an  undesirable  citizen,  and  laws  will  be 
enacted  or  taxes  so  assessed  as  to  make 
it  unprofitable  to  maintain  vast  estates 
of  which  only  small  portions  are  pro¬ 
ductive,  and  which  furnish  no  employ¬ 
ment  for  the  people.  To  my  mind  one  of 
the  most  cheering  features  of  the  present 
growth  of  the  West  is  this  breaking  up 
of  the  great  estates,  many  of  which  were 
taken  from  the  public  domain  by  methods 
more  or  less  questionable.  Here  and 
there  are  vast  tracts  of  land  held  in 
single  ownership,  or  by  corporations, 
which  interpose  a  barrier  to  the  land- 
hungry  and  offer  obstacles  to  the  proper 
development  of  the  country. 

In  the  main,  however,  the  tendency 
strongly  is  to  subdivide.  The  great  cat¬ 
tle  ranches  are  being  cut  up  in  quarter- 
section  farms,  and  four  homes  or  more 
to  the  square  mile  dot  a  landscape  which 
a  short  time  ago  held  perhaps  only  a  lone 
ranch  house  within  the  radius  of  vision. 
Ten  years  ago  I  drove  for  two  days 
across  a  part  of  Montana  and  never  saw 
a  spot  where  the  virgin  sod  had  been 
turned.  You  cannot  drive  a  mile  in  any 
direction  in  that  section  today  without 
seeing  cultivated  land. 

THE  VERSATILITY  OF  THE  WEST 

Versatility  is  not  confined  to  any  one 
locality  in  the  West.  In  the  majesty  and 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


405 


BUILDING  A  HOMESTEAD  oE  CONCRETE  BLOCKS  ON  THE  TRUCKEE-CARSON  IRRIGATION 
PROJECT,  NEVADA  (SEE  PAGE  427) 

TYPE  OF  THE  CENTRALIZED  GRADED  SCHOOLS  ON  THE  HUNTLEY  PROJECT,  MONTANA 
Two  years  ago  there  was  not  an  inhabitant  within  miles  of  this  school-house  (see  page  408) 


40G 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


A  TWO-YEAR-OLD  HOMESTEAD  ON  THE  TRUCKEE-CARSON  PROJECT,  NEVADA 
200  COLONIES  OE  BEES  ON  THE  SAME  PROJECT  (SEE  PAGE  427) 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


407 


grandeur  of  its  mountains,  lifting  their 
heads  into  regions  of  perpetual  snow ; 
in  forests  whose  age  antedates  the  birth 
of  the  Savior;  in  canyons  whose  pic¬ 
turesque  carving  consumed  centuries 
upon  centuries  of  time ;  in  landscapes  and 
scenery  of  such  beauty  and  color  as  were 
never  shown  on  canvas ;  in  deserts  where 
life  is  still  elemental  and  primitive,  and 
where  amid  the  crumbling  ruins  of  de¬ 
parted  races  strange  people  dwell  in  an 
atmosphere  of  dreams  and  enchantment, 
and  with  mythology  and  legends  as  in¬ 
teresting  as  those  of  ancient  Greece ;  in 
all  that  Nature  has  ever  done  to  enthrall 
the  senses,  to  inspire  the  tongue  or  pen, 
the  West  suffers  not  by  comparison  with 
any  part  of  the  Old  World.  We  show 
but  faint  regard  for  all  the  wonders  Na¬ 
ture  has  lavished  on  our  country  when 
so  few  of  us  ever  seek  to  enjoy  them.  A 
few  of  the  millions  spent  annually  by 
Americans  in  foreign  lands,  if  expended 
at  home,  would  make  easy  of  access  and 
enjoyment  for  thousands  of  our  people 
many  of  the  splendid  attractions  of  our 
own  country. 

The  man  from  the  West  sojourning 
for  a  time  in  the  East,  if  he  gives  free 
expression  to  the  pride  he  rightly  feels 
in  his  native  heath,  is  likely  to  be  re¬ 
garded  as  an  apostle  of  discontent  by 
those  who  listen.  Lucky  for  him  if  he 
does  not  achieve  the  reputation  for  verac¬ 
ity  given  to  an  old  fellow  in  the  middle 
West. 

The  oldest  inhabitant  and  the  man 
who  remembered  the  weather  for  fifty 
years  back  were  seated  about  the  stove 
in  the  corner  grocery  one  winter’s  night 
discussing  the  veracity  of  old  Si  Perkins. 
Uncle  Bill  Simpkins  strolled  in  and  took 
his  place  near  the  box  of  soda-crackers. 

“Say,  Uncle  Bill,”  they  asked  him, 
“would  you  call  Si  Perkins  a  liar?” 

“Wall,”  said  Uncle  Bill,  thoughtfully, 
as  he  spat  in  the  stove,  “I  don’t  know  as 
I’d  go  so  fur  as  to  call  him  a  liar  exactly, 
leastways  not  just  plain  every-day  liar, 
hut  I  do  know  this  much :  when  feedin’ 
time  comes,  in  order  to  git  any  response 
from  his  hawgs,  he  has  to  git  somebody 
else  to  call  ’em  fer  him.” 


It  is  with  no  wish  to  encourage  unrest 
and  dissatisfaction  with  your  present  in- 
vironment  that  I  am  here  tonight.  I 
come  rather  as  a  messenger  from  a  far- 
off  and  little-known  part  of  our  country, 
bringing  a  story  of  progress  and  achieve¬ 
ment.  It  is  a  story  in  part  of  kinfolks 
of  ours  whose  hearts  are  fired  with  the 
same  courage,  patriotism,  and  fortitude 
which  enabled  our  ancestors  to  wrest  a 
commonwealth  from  the  New  England 
wilderness.  They  are  imbued  with  high 
ideals  and  noble  purposes,  and  by  their 
achievements  are  establishing  us  more 
firmly  in  our  place  among  the  greatest 
nations  of  the  earth. 

the;  miracle  oe  irrigation 

The  miracle  of  irrigation,  which  is  per¬ 
formed  each  year  in  the  arid  West,  is  a 
most  impressive  and  wonderful  mani¬ 
festation  of  Nature’s  beneficence  to  man. 

Throughout  the  winter  season  the 
clouds  of  heaven  are  swept  hither  and 
thither  about  the  uplifted  mountains, 
whose  heads  tower  a  mile  above  the 
plain.  On  their  frowning  fronts  and 
lofty  summits  the  snows  fall  heavily, 
covering  deeply  every  peak  and  promon¬ 
tory  and  filling  every  chasm;  then  the 
warm  rays  of  spring  and  summer  sun 
fall  softly  upon  the  white  snow-banks 
and  tiny  streams,  and  roaring  cataracts 
burst  forth  and  journey  downward  to  fill 
to  overflowing  numerous  lakes,  each  a 
sapphire  gem  in  the  heart  of  the  moun¬ 
tains. 

The  heavy  clouds  and  towering  peaks, 
the  falling  snow  and  gentle  sunshine,  the 
rush  and  whirl  of  descending  waters, 
these  are  recurring  evidences  of  nature’s 
maternal  contributions  t&  the  dweller  in 
the  desert. 

It  remains  but  for  man’s  industry  and 
intelligence  to  utilize  these  generous  do¬ 
nations.  The  engineer  finds  no  field  more 
attractive  than  this  for  his  energies.  He 
curbs  the  stream  with  masonry  dams  and 
lifts  the  water  into  huge  canals.  Water 
and  land  long  divorced  are  wedded,  and 
wavering  fields  of  grain  and  orchards 
prolific  beyond  comparison  replace  the 
wastes  of  sand  and  sage-brush. 


408 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


On  three  previous  occasions  I  have 
had  the  privilege  of  taking  the  members 
of  this  Society,  with  the  aid  of  the  stere- 
opticon,  to  view  some  of  the  wonders  of 
our  Far  West,  and  have  shown  them  some 
of  the  work  of  the  government’s  engi¬ 
neers.*  We  have  looked  upon  the  tower¬ 
ing  structures  of  granite  and  concrete, 
slowly  rising  to  block  abysmal  canyons; 
we  have  in  fancy  traveled  over  highways 
carved  from  beetling  cliffs  and  traversing 
waterless  deserts ;  we  have  seen  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  valleys  gashed  deeply  by 
broad  canals  carrying  whole  rivers  to 
fructify  a  thirsty  land.  Tonight,  while  I 
shall  show  you  more  of  these  creations 
of  daring  engineers,  it  is  also  my  chief 
aim  to  make  you  more  fully  acquainted 
with  the  real  purpose  of  these  great 
works — the  making  of  homes.  One  of 
the  best  examples  of  the  wisdom  of  the 
national  irrigation  law  is  afforded  by  the 
Huntley  project,  in  Montana. 

THK  HUNTUY  PROJECT,  MONTANA 

On  July  1 7,  1907,  about  30,000  acres 
of  land  were  thrown  open  to  settlement 
upon  the  completion  of  the  irrigation 
works.  This  fine  tract  of  land  in  the 
valley  of  the  Yellowstone  was  absolutely 
virgin ;  a  plow  had  never  scratched  its 
surface.  It  lay  there  as  nature  made  ic, 
storing  for  ages  the  elements  required 
for  plant  life.  Lacking  in  rainfall,  it 
produced  nothing  but  sage-brush  and 
bunch  grass.  To  make  up  for  the  over¬ 
sight  of  nature,  a  million  dollars  were  ex¬ 
pended  on  irrigation  structures  and  ca¬ 
nals.  Three  hundred  families,  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States,  established 
themselves  upon  the  40-acre  farms  and 
began  at  once  to  erect  their  simple  homes, 
to  clear  away  the  sage-brush,  and  pre¬ 
pare  the  lands  for  crops.  To  most  of 
them  irrigation  was  an  unknown  science, 
to  many  farming  was  a  new  experience. 
With  the  cheerful  optimism  and  abid¬ 
ing  faith  which  somehow  seem  to  char¬ 
acterize  the  dweller  in  the  desert,  they 
set  themselves  to  their  several  tasks.  It 

*  See  “Winning  the  West,”  February,  1906; 
“Millions  for  Moisture,”  April,  1907;  “Home¬ 
making  by  the  Government,”  April,  1908,  Nat. 
Ceog.  Mag. 


was  a  backward  season,  a  cold,  late 
spring,  yet  nevertheless  every  man  who 
sowed  reaped  some  measure  of  harvest, 
and  in  many  instances  the  rewards  were 
beyond  reasonable  expectation.  It  is  re¬ 
markable,  but  true,  that  notwithstanding 
lack  of  knowledge,  unpreparedness  of 
the  land,  and  unfavorable  season,  not  one 
total  failure  is  recorded ;  nor  has  a  single 
individual  uttered  complaint  to  the  Rec¬ 
lamation  Service. 

Especially  interesting  to  me  are  the 
experiences  of  those  who  came  to  this 
new  country  without  any  previous  knowl¬ 
edge  of  farming.  Their  successes  may 
well  lead  us  to  believe  that  new  avenues 
of  hope  are  opening  to  the  careworn  and 
discouraged  who  are  living  miserably  in 
our  crowded  cities. 

THE  MAKING  OE  PROSPEROUS  HOMES 

A  few  years  ago  a  young  man,  raised 
on  a  Pennsylvania  farm,  came  to  Wash¬ 
ington,  D.  C.,  and  was  enrolled  as  a 
stenographer  in  the  Post  Office  Depart¬ 
ment.  About  three  years  ago  he  took 
stock,  as  it  were,  and  decided  that  a 
clerical  profession  did  not  suit  him.  He 
concluded  to  improve  his  annual  leave  by 
taking  a  western  trip,  and  stopped  off  at 
Billings,  Montana.  He  was  attracted 
strongly  by  this  progressive  young  city, 
and  decided  to  remain.  When  the  Hunt- 
ley  lands  were  opened,  and  he  took  a 
chance,  fortune  favored  him  and  he  drew 
a  farm  of  47  acres,  all  irrigable.  A  part 
of  the  $1,500,  which  represented  his  sav¬ 
ings  as  a  government  clerk,  he  paid  out 
at  once  for  the  erection  of  a  neat  cot¬ 
tage ;  the  sum  of  $176  was  paid  for  his 
first  installment  of  water  right.  A  year 
ago  last  month  the  home  was  ready,  and 
after  resigning  his  job  he  sent  for  his 
family  and  moved  in.  He  cleared  35 
acres  of  sage-brush,  plowed  and  leveled 
it,  and  sowed  24  acres  to  oats  and  4  acres 
to  wheat.  He  set  out  250  apple  trees, 
and  between  the  rows  planted  4,000 
strawberry  plants,  potatoes,  currants, 
grapes,  strawberries,  and  blackberries. 
About  the  house  he  set  out  quick-grow¬ 
ing  cottonwoods  and  many  junipers.  The 
housewife,  meanwhile,  did  not  forget  a 
small  flower  garden,  nor  neglect  a  lot  of 


THK  CAT Jv  OE  THE  WEST 


409 


GATES  IN  the:  MAIN  CANAL  OE'  THE)  TRUCICEE-CARSON  PROJECT,  NEVADA 

(see  page  427) 

A  PORTION  OE  THE  CONCRETE-LINED  MAIN  CANAL  OE  THE  KLAMATH  PROJECT, 

OREGON  (SEE  PAGE  417) 


410 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


BUILDING  THE  HIGHEST  MASONRY  DAM  IN  THE  WORLD:  SHOSHONE  DAM,  WYOMING 

The  dam  will  be  of  concrete  gravity  type,  32 8.4  feet  from  bed-rock  to  top  of  parapet  walls ; 
85  feet  long  on  the  bottom ;  200  feet  long  on  the  top ;  108  feet  thick  on  the  bottom.  It  will 
create  a  reservoir  covering  6,600  acres,  with  a  capacity  of  456,000  acre-feet.  Water  will  be  used 
to  irrigate  about  150,000  acres  of  land  lying  75  miles  east  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park 
(see  page  411). 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


411 


fancy  chickens.  On  the  first  of  Novem¬ 
ber  he  took  an  inventory  for  me  and  re¬ 
ported  oats  yielding  62  bushels  and  wheat 
30  bushels  per  acre.  Potatoes  and  other 
vegetables  proved  a  good  crop  and  fur¬ 
nished  enough  to  carry  him  through  the 
winter.  The  apple  trees  are  flourishing, 
and  the  outlook  for  small  fruit  is  most 
encouraging  for  1909.  This  spring  he 
will  plant  30  acres  in  sugar  beets,  and 
he  says  he  can  net  from  $50  to  $80  per 
acre. 

Growing  tired  of  the  dangerous  pro¬ 
fession  of  locomotive  engineer,  Elmer 
Eiker  resigned  and  took  up  a  farm  at 
Huntley,  where  he  moved  his  family, 
consisting  of  a  wife  and  three  daughters. 
His  capital  was  about  $1,000.  He  only 
cleared  and  cultivated  20  acres,  planting 
an  assortment  of  wheat,  oats,  sweet  corn, 
potatoes,  onions,  squash,  sugar  beets, 
watermelons,  cantaloupes,  and  other  veg¬ 
etables.  It  was  such  a  variety  that  I  ac¬ 
cused  him  of  making  a  raid  on  some  Con¬ 
gressman’s  seed  appropriation.  Rather 
remarkable  to  relate,  he  was  successful 
with  nearly  everything  he  put  in  the 
ground.  His  oats  threshed  over  45 
bushels;  wheat,  late  planted,  18  bushels; 
potatoes,  150  bushels;  onions,  300  bush¬ 
els  per  acre ;  from  one-eighth  of  an 
acre  in  cucumbers  he  sold  more  than  $50 
worth.  Everything  was  grown  on  new 
land  never  before  touched  by  a  plow. 
Mr  Eiker  says  any  man  with  three 
horses,  a  cow,  a  few  chickens,  and  $500 
in  cash,  combined  with  industry  and  com¬ 
mon  sense,  can  make  good  on  one  of  these 
40-acre  farms.  Several  hundred  farmers, 
his  neighbors,  are  doing  it.  The  Hunt- 
ley  project  now  contains  300  new  homes. 
Its  towns  are  growing.  There  are  eight 
graded  or  centralized  country  schools, 
four  church  organizations,  and  a  bank 
with  $50,000  in  deposits.  Two  years 
ago  this  country  was  a  sage-brush  desert 
and  uninhabited.  Last  year  the  first 
crop  was  irrigated  by  water  from  the 
new  canal  system. 

THE  SHOSHONE)  PROJECT,  WYOMING 

Under  the  protecting  shadows  of  a 
lofty  mountain  range  in  northern  Wyo¬ 
ming  there  is  a  broad  and  fertile  valley 


through  which  flows  a  strange  and  won¬ 
derful  river.  In  prehistoric  days  im¬ 
mense  geysers  along  the  stream  sent  their 
boiling  waters  high  into  the  air.  In  the 
river  bed  and  on  the  banks  great  hot 
springs  burst  forth,  the  waters  possessing 
qualities  of  healing  and  odors  far-reach¬ 
ing.  The  Indians,  who  oft  renewed  their 
youth  in  them,  called  the  stream  Sho¬ 
shone,  or  “stinking  water” — an  unfair 
cognomen — for,  save  at  the  spring,  the 
river  is  as  clear  as  a  mountain  brook 
and  its  waters  are  good  to  drink. 

Unnumbered  ages  ago  there  was  a 
beautiful  lake,  a  few  miles  above  the  val¬ 
ley,  fed  by  countless  streams  flowing 
down  from  snowy  peaks.  Between  it 
and  the  valley  a  range  of  lofty  moun¬ 
tains  intervened.  When  the  lake  topped 
its  banks  the  overflow,  passing  through 
some  cleft  or  crevice  in  the  mountain 
range,  during  centuries  of  time  gradually 
chiseled  out  a  canyon  eight  miles  long 
and  hundreds  of  feet  in  depth.  When 
the  bottom  of  the  canyon  was  cut  below 
that  of  the  lake,  its  waters  poured  out  and 
passed  through  the  gorge  and  the  lake 
bed  was  exposed.  The  entrance  of  that 
gorge  is  only  60  feet  wide  on  the  bottom ; 
300  feet  above  it  is  only  200  feet  wide. 
No  irrigation  engineer  could  view  it  with¬ 
out  wishing  to  lock  it  with  a  dam.  It  has 
been  waiting  all  these  years  for  some  one 
daring  enough  and  with  capital  enough 
to  block  it  up  and  restore  once  more  the 
beautiful  lake  that  disappeared  so  long 
ago. 

A  BLOCK  OB  CONCRETE)  SEVERAL  HUNDRED 
FEE)T  HIGH 

In  1910  the  lake  will  reappear,  and 
on  its  shores  countless  wild  fowl  will 
build  their  nests.  From  the  depths  of 
the  shadowy  canyon  the  world’s  highest 
masonry  dam  is  slowly  rising,  a  solid 
block  of  concrete,  locking  securely  the 
perpendicular  cliffs  of  granite  and  thrust¬ 
ing  back  the  angry  floods  of  the  turbulent 
and  torrential  river.  The  work  is  im¬ 
pressive;  it  is  also  attended  by  many 
dangers  and  calls  for  courage  and  daring 
on  the  part  of  the  men  engaged  upon  it. 
The  scenery  is  magnificent,  the  canyon 
justly  ranking  with  other  famous  gorges 


412 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


of  the  West.  The  drive  over  the  high¬ 
way  constructed  by  the  Service  is  one 
never  to  be  forgotten.  As  the  future 
route  to  a  new  entrance  to  Yellowstone 
Park,  it  will  doubtless  attract  thousands 
of  tourists.  The  great  dam  is  for  storage 
and  for  power  development.  It  will  hold 
Lack  flood  waters  heretofore  wasted  until 
needed  for  irrigation  in  the  summer. 

Down  the  river  another  dam,  a  low 
structure  of  concrete,  diverts  the  stream 
into  a  tunnel  3 1/\.  miles  long.  This  tun¬ 
nel,  passing  through  the  bluffs  on  the 
river’s  edge,  emerges  at  the  head  of  the 
valley  and  the  waters  are  carried  into  a 
broad  canal  and  thence  to  the  farm  lands. 
Last  spring  an  opening  occurred  here  and 
17,000  acres  were  offered  to  settlers. 
Practically  all  of  the  farms  are  taken 
and  many  of  the  newcomers  have  har¬ 
vested  a  crop  already.  In  all  my  ex¬ 
perience  in  the  West  I  do  not  recall  a 
more  rapid  transformation  from  brown 
desert  to  green  fields  than  I  saw  here  last 
summer.  The  swiftness  with  which 
things  grew  on  this  desert  soil  was  posi¬ 
tively  startling.  More  than  100  families 
are  now  established  here  and,  as  on  the 
Huntley,  there  are  no  complaints.  A  sec¬ 
ond  unit  of  this  project,  consisting  of 
13,000  acres,  will  be  made  ready  for  set¬ 
tlers  in  time  for  spring  planting.  At  the 
same  time  a  portion  of  the  lots  in  the  gov¬ 
ernment  townsite  of  Powell  will  be  sold 
at  auction,  affording  many  opportunities 
for  merchants,  mechanics,  and  men  of 
other  professions.  “The  best  country  I 
ever  lived  in”  is  a  common  expression  on 
this  project. 

SUN  RIVER  PROJECT,  MONTANA 

To  the  man  who  is  accustomed  to  the 
climate  of  New  England  or  our  Northern 
States,  the  attractions  and  advantages  of 
the  Sun  River  country,  near  Great  Falls, 
Montana,  should  appeal  strongly.  Es¬ 
pecially  is  this  true  if  he  be  inclined  to 
engage  in  general  farming  and  raising 
live  stock.  The  farms  on  this  project  art 
80  acres  of  irrigable  land,  for  which  the 
settler  must  pay  for  water  at  the  rate 
of  $30  per  acre,  payable  in  annual  install¬ 
ments,  not  to  exceed  ten,  without  inter¬ 


est.  He  is  also  allowed  to  file  on  80  acres 
of  non-irrigable  land,  for  which  he  pays 
only  the  usual  filing  fee — about  $16.  The 
unirrigated  land  can  be  utilized  for  pas¬ 
ture,  corrals,  and  buildings.  Back  of 
the  irrigated  lands  is  a  vast  area  of  free 
range  covered  with  nutritious  grass  in 
the  summer  and  furnishing  forage  for 
vast  flocks  and  herds  which  in  the  winter 
consume  the  crops  grown  by  irrigation. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  project  is  at 
present  some  miles  from  a  railroad,  set¬ 
tlement  has  been  slower  here  than  else¬ 
where.  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
a  new  railroad  will  be  extended  into  the 
valley,  and  it  is  expected  that  settlement 
will  then  be  more  rapid. 

POWER  YEEEOWSTONE  PROJECT,  MONTANA- 
NORTH  DAKOTA 

A  short  time  ago  the  Lower  Yellow¬ 
stone  project,  embracing  66,000  acres  in 
Montana-North  Dakota,  was  formally 
opened.  A  large  part  of  the  land  is  al¬ 
ready  filed  upon.  Owing  to  the  very 
favorable  season,  many  settlers  raised 
good  crops  of  grain  last  year  without 
irrigation.  As  a  rule  they  have  all  pros¬ 
pered,  and  the  outlook  for  this  section 
of  the  Yellowstone  Valley  may  be  re¬ 
garded  as  propitious. 

Among  the  first  settlers  on  the  govern¬ 
ment  land  on  this  project  was  a  tall,  raw- 
boned  young  man,  a  wood-polisher  from 
Buffalo,  New  York,  who  filed  on  160 
acres  near  Sidney.  He  landed  with 
exactly  $50  in  his  pocket.  Securing  em¬ 
ployment  as  a  teamster,  he  saved  his 
salary  until  he  bought  a  team  and  wagon 
of  his  own,  and  then  secured  a  contract 
for  hauling  supplies.  He  has  now  nine 
good  horses  and  two  wagons.  On  his 
farm  he  has  erected  a  good  house,  has 
fenced  his  land,  and  will  henceforth  de¬ 
vote  his  time  to  harvesting  bountiful 
crops.  He  has  done  all  this  within  three 
years. 

OTHER  MONTANA  PROJECTS 

Montana,  owing  to  its  very  large  areas 
of  public  domain  and  its  splendid  water 
supply,  is  a  most  inviting  field  for  the 
engineer.  The  early  opening  of  three 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


413 


RELICS  OF  OLD  ARIZONA:  THE  APACHE  AND  THE  CACTUS  (SEE  PAGE  426) 


_ _ _ i__ _ _ _ 


414 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


LOWER  PORTAL  CORBETT  TUNNEL:  SHOSHONE  PROJECT,  WYOMING 
This  tunnel  is  3%  miles  in  length,  has  a  cross-section  of  10  x  10,  and  a  capacity  of  450,000  gallons  per  minute 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


415 


Indian  reservations  will  make  available 
for  development  a  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  choice  land  in  the  future. 

On  the  Milk  River  project,  in  this 
state,  the  government  is  at  work  on  a 
large  dam  at  Dodson,  while  the  farmers 
themselves  have  undertaken  and  are  suc¬ 
cessfully  building  the  largest  irrigation 
canal  in  the  United  States.  On  the  Saint 
Marys  project,  the  water  supply  of 
which  has  been  made  the  subject  of  a 
treaty  not  yet  ratified,  the  work  of  canal 
building  is  being  done  largely  by  Indian 
labor.  The  Indians  will  be  employed  to 
build  their  own  ditches  on  the  Flathead 
and  Fort  Peck  reservations  as  soon  as 
plans  are  decided  upon. 

Preliminary  surveys  have  been  made 
on  this  project  and  an  irrigation  system 
designed  to  supply  130,000  acres  of  land 
on  the  Flathead  Indian  reservation,  in 
Flathead,  Sanders,  and  Missoula  coun¬ 
ties.  Work  will  be  carried  on  during 
the  season  of  1909  on  four  units — the 
Jocko  unit  covering  6,000  acres;  the  Mis¬ 
sion,  4,500  acres ;  the  Poison,  3,000,  and 
the  Mud  Creek,  6,000  acres.  The  In¬ 
dian  allotments  amount  to  80  acres  of 
irrigable  land  for  each  individual.  The 
lands  remaining  after  all  the  allotments 
are  made  will  be  opened  to  the  public 
after  due  notice  has  been  given  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  through  the 
public  press. 

The  lands  lie  about  2,800  feet  above 
sea  level,  and  the  temperature  ranges 
from  200  below  to  ioo°  above  zero.  The 
soil  is  clay,  forest  loam,  and  gravelly 
loam,  and  the  products  are  alfalfa,  grain, 
vegetables,  apples,  and  small  fruits.  The 
project  is  located  between  the  Great 
Northern  and  the  Northern  Pacific  rail¬ 
roads. 

the;  national  irrigation  projects  op 

WASHINGTON 

In  the  minds  of  most  Easterners  the 
northwest  boundaries  of  our  country  are 
usually  associated  with  blizzards  and  a 
temperature  that  puts  the  average  ther¬ 
mometer  out  of  business.  There  are 
places  along  the  border  where  the  winds 
blow  and  50  degrees  below  zero  is  not 


uncommon.  Again  there  are  places 
where  the  seasons  are  so  genial,  the  tem¬ 
perature  so  favorable,  that  delicate  fruits 
like  apricots  and  peaches  are  grown  suc¬ 
cessfully.  Close  to  the  Canadian  line,  in 
Washington,  is  a  remarkable  valley,  shut 
in  by  sheltering  hills  and  mountains  and 
favored  with  the  kindly  Chinook  winds. 
It  is  known  as  the  Okanogan  Valley, 
sometimes  called  the  California  of  the 
Northwest. 

It  richly  deserves  the  name,  for  it  is 
the  boast  of  its  early  settlers  that  no 
killing  frost  has  ever  destroyed  the 
orchards  in  that  valley.  The  reclamation 
project  here  is  the  most  expensive  per 
acre  of  any  of  those  now  in  process  of 
construction.  So  abundant  are  the  yields 
and  so  profitable  and  varied  are  the  crops 
that  the  land-owners  very  cheerfully  en¬ 
tered  into  a  contract  with  the  government 
to  pay  a  charge  of  $65  per  acre  for  a 
water  right.  The  assurance  of  a  con¬ 
stant  and  sufficient  supply  of  water  for 
irrigation  has  increased  land  values  tre¬ 
mendously.  Prices  here  to  the  Easterner 
seem  very  high  until  the  earning  capacity 
of  the  lands  is  demonstrated.  The  Oka¬ 
nogan  Valley  sent  an  exhibit  of  fruits 
to  the  Industrial  Fair  at  Spokane  last 
fall.  Out  of  23  plate  exhibits  the  county 
drew  19  prizes. 

Eight  years  ago  James  O’Herin,  a 
shrewd  Yankee  from  Portland,  Maine, 
came  to  the  valley  seeking  a  home.  He 
had  $500,  and  filed  upon  a  homestead 
which  he  commuted,  and  in  1905  sold 
it  for  $10,000.  This  sum  he  immediately 
invested  in  another  ranch,  which  in  three 
years’  time  he  has  so  improved  as  to  be 
worth  more  than  $20,000.  From  a  tenant 
farmer  in  the  East  to  a  land-owner  worth 
$20,000  in  eight  years  may  be  taken  to 
indicate  the  possibilities  which  await  the 
industrious  and  intelligent  home-seeker 
in  the  arid  West. 

IN  THE  VALE  0E  PLENTY 

Southward,  and  near  the  line  dividing 
Oregon  and  Washington  is  the  great 
Yakima  Valley,  beyond  question  the  most 
widely  advertised  and  best  known  agri¬ 
cultural  region  in  the  Northwest.  It  is 


416 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


Washington’s  vale  of  plenty.  The  fame 
of  its  prodigious  crops,  the  excellence  of 
its  fruits,  and  the  general  prosperity  of 
all  of  its  people  are  subjects  of  fascinat¬ 
ing  interest.  The  valley  may  be  said  to 
have  been  absorbed  by  the  Service,  which 
in  the  interest  of  economy  has  acquired 
the  principal  irrigation  system  and  con¬ 
trols  the  entire  flood  flow  of  the  stream. 
The  plans  provide  for  a  gradual  and  com¬ 
prehensive  development  of  several  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  acres  of  land  of  unequaled 
richness.  The  work  is  now  centered 
upon  two  units — the  Tieton  and  Sunny- 
side — but  in  the  near  future  the  Wapato 
unit,  embracing  the  Yakima  Indian  lands, 
will  be  opened  to  settlement. 

At  the  risk  of  losing  my  reputation  for 
veracity  I  wish  to  mention  a  few  of  the 
numerous  instances  of  success  on  the 
part  of  horticulturists  in  that  valley. 

J.  O.  Shadbolt,  for  ten  years  a  dry- 
goods  merchant  of  Virginia,  Minnesota, 
came  to  Wapato,  Washington,  in  Febru¬ 
ary,  1906,  and  bought  41  acres,  all  in 
bearing  orchard,  including  apples, 
peaches,  pears,  plums,  apricots,  and  cher¬ 
ries.  He  paid  $18,500  for  the  place,  or  a 
little  over  $450  per  acre,  a  price  which 
his  friends  declared  was  evidence  that  he 
was  crazy.  He  added  $2,500  for  im- 
provementc,  making  an  initial  investment 
of  $21,000.  In  1908  Mr  Shadbolt  re¬ 
fused  a  definite  offer  of  $50,000  for  his 
ranch.  Let  us  briefly  analyze  the  crops 
produced  in  the  three  years  he  has  owned 
the  ranch.  In  1906  his  sales  were  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 


6,933  boxes  Bartlett  pears .  $6,612.00 

2,652  boxes  Crawford  peaches .  1,326.00 

8,743  boxes  Elbuta  peaches .  5,245.80 

Over-ripe  pears  sold  at  home .  250.00 

4,243  boxes  plums,  apples,  apricots, 
and  cherries  .  3,023.72 


Total  . $16,457.52 


Deducting  operating  expenses,  about 
25  per  cent,  left  a  net  profit  of  $12,000. 

In  1907  the  orchard  yielded  gross, 
$29,485.47,  and  net,  $20,500. 

In  1908  the  business  depression  af¬ 
fected  the  market  and  prices  were  lower ; 
nevertheless  the  orchard  netted  $7,500. 


In  the  three  years  former  shopkeeper 
Shadbolt,  who  never  before  had  any 
knowledge  of  fruit-raising  or  irrigation, 
has  netted  $39,500  on  an  investment  of 
$21,000,  or  an  average  of  $13,166  an¬ 
nually.  His  net  income  each  year  has  ex¬ 
ceeded  62  per  cent  on  his  investment. 
His  annual  net  returns  averaged  over 
$321.13  per  acre. 

Edgar  Silvers,  from  an  unfrrigated 
farm  near  Albion,  Nebraska,  came  to 
Toppenish  six  years  ago  and  bought  a 
ten-acre  farm  under  the  government  ca¬ 
nal.  He  has  now  734  acres  in  bearing 
orchard  and  2]/2  acres  in  young  trees. 
From  his  matured  trees  last  year  and 
from  the  vegetables  and  clover  grown 
between  the  rows  he  received  $2,727.60 
gross.  He  says  this  beats  160  acres  in 
the  corn  belt  in  net  yields,  besides  being 
a  lot  less  worry  and  hard  work. 

From  9  acres  of  apples,  or  660  trees, 
A.  Larson,  of  Zillah  Post  Office,  a 
former  citizen  of  Stockton,  Wisconsin, 
sold  $3,755  worth  in  1908. 

L.  I.  Barbee,  a  former  resident  of  Red 
Oak,  Iowa,  now  living  on  a  20-acre  ranch 
at  Toppenish,  sold  $2,341.60  worth  of 
apples,  pears,  plums,  and  prunes  from 
357  trees,  or  more  than  $6.50  per  tree. 
These  trees  occupy  6y2  acres. 

J.  C.  Milton,  also  from  Red  Oak,  Iowa, 
now  owner  of  6  1-3  acres  in  apples  and 
peaches,  harvested  from  300  trees 
$2,578.55  worth  of  fruit  in  1908,  or 
nearly  $8.60  per  tree.  His  average  gross 
return  was  $407.14  per  acre. 

Robert  McCormick,  formerly  a  lum¬ 
ber-jack  at  Blue  Earth,  Minnesota,  landed 
in  Zillah  ten  years  ago  with  just  75  cents 
in  his  pocket.  For  two  years  he  worked 
as  laborer  and  teamster,  and  then  with 
his  savings  made  the  first  payment  on  25 
acres  under  the  government’s  canal.  It 
was  raw  land  then,  covered  with  sage¬ 
brush.  Today  it  is  all  in  cultivation,  and 
his  little  farm  is  bringing  him  in  each 
year  $2,000  above  all  expenses.  Last 
year  he  picked  780  boxes  of  apples  from 
ilA  acres.  He  has  refused  $1.25  per 
box,  or  $975  for  his  crops,  which  indi¬ 
cates  a  yield  of  $780  per  acre. 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


417 


COMMUNAL  FARM  LIFE  IN  OREGON 

Between  the  Umatilla  River  on  the 
west  and  the  Columbia  River  on  the 
north,  in  northwestern  Oregon,  is  a 
broad  expanse  of  sage-brush  desert 
which  is  now  undergoing  a  remarkable 
transformation.  The  irrigation  works  of 
the  government  here  consist  of  a  di¬ 
version  dam  in  the  Umatilla  River  a  few 
miles  above  the  town  of  Echo  and  a  stor¬ 
age  feed  canal,  20  miles  in  length,  carry¬ 
ing  the  flood  flow  of  the  stream  into  a 
large  reservoir,  having  a  surface  area  of 
1,700  acres  and  a  depth  of  70  feet.  From 
the  reservoir  a  series  of  canals  have  been 
extended  to  embrace  about  20,000  acres 
of  exceedingly  fine  land.  The  produc¬ 
tivity  of  this  section  has  long  been  known 
through  the  profitable  crops  under  small 
private  ditches.  Agricultural  experts  all 
agree  that  this  valley  has  a  most  prom¬ 
ising  future.  At  no  distant  day  we  may 
confidently  look  for  one  of  the  most  com¬ 
pact  agricultural  districts  in  the  state  to 
be  established  here.  The  soil  is  of  great 
depth,  the  summer  comes  early,  and  the 
growing  season  is  longer  than  in  most 
parts  of  the  West.  The  truck  and  fruit 
grower  can  place  his  crops  on  the  mar¬ 
kets  in  advance  of  his  competitors,  and 
be  sure  of  top  prices  in  the  markets  of 
Spokane,  Seattle,  Tacoma,  and  Portland, 
all  of  which  are  tributary  by  rail  or  water 
transportation. 

An  interesting  phase  of  the  develop¬ 
ment  here  is  the  combination  of  urban 
and  rural  life ;  farms  are  small ;  many 
five  and  ten-acre  orchard  tracts  are  be¬ 
ing  laid  out  about  the  towns,  and  the 
owners  of  many  of  these  have  built  their 
homes  in  the  towns,  so  that  their  wives 
and  children  have  the  advantages  of  so¬ 
ciety,  schools,  and  churches. 

THE  KLAMATH  PROJECT 

In  the  land  of  “Burnt  Out  Fires” — 
the  region  which  will  long  be  remem¬ 
bered  as  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Mo¬ 
doc  Indians — is  a  remarkable  agricul¬ 
tural  district  known  as  the  Klamath 
Basin,  which  lies  partly  in  California 
and  partly  in  Oregon,  and  embraces  sev¬ 


eral  hundred  thousand  acres.  The  first 
unit  of  this  important  national  irriga¬ 
tion  work  is  completed,  and  several 
thousand  acres  of  fertile  land  are  now 
receiving  water  from  the  government 
canals.  Of  all  the  Federal  works,  Kla¬ 
math  project  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
unique,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  in¬ 
volves  irrigation  and  drainage  in  unusual 
combination.  A  considerable  portion  of 
the  lands  to  be  irrigated  is  today  cov¬ 
ered  with  the  waters  of  navigable  lakes ; 
these  waters  are  to  be  drawn  off  and  the 
exposed  lake  beds  are  then  to  be  sub¬ 
divided  into  farms  and  irrigated  by  the 
government  canals. 

A  new  railroad  has  been  completed  to 
the  valley,  and  the  indications  are  that 
this  region  is  to  enjoy  rapid  growth  and 
development.  Its  advantages  in  soil, 
climate,  and  products,  as  well  as  in  great 
undeveloped  natural  resources — in  for¬ 
ests,  water  power,  and  free  grazing — 
are  certain  to  attract  enterprising  citizens 
from  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Idaho's  wonderful  development 

The  most  important  stream  in  the  arid 
West  is  Snake  River,  in  Idaho.  From 
the  foothills  of  the  Tetons,  which  form 
the  boundaries  of  Wyoming  and  Idaho, 
to  the  western  boundary  of  the  latter 
state,  Snake  River  traverses  a  wide  lava 
plain  which  constitutes  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  and  important  physiographic  fea¬ 
ture  of  the  southern  part  of  the  state. 
Snake  River  now  irrigates  a  larger  area 
than  any  other  stream  in  the  United 
States.  Two  reclamation  projects  of  the 
government  have  been  undertaken  in  this 
drainage  basin,  one  supplied  from  the 
main  stream  and  the  other  from  two  im¬ 
portant  tributaries. 

The  Minidoka  project,  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  state,  was  partly  completed 
in  1907,  and  made  available  for  entry 
1,050  farms,  varying  from  40  to  80  acres 
each.  Before  the  water  was  ready  every 
farm  was  filed  upon,  and  5,000  people 
established  homes  in  the  sage-brush. 
The  most  important  feature  of  construc¬ 
tion  is  the  rock-fill  dam  across  the  river, 
a  structure  650  feet  long  on  top  and  50 


418 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


THE  PATHFINDER  DAM  OF  THE  NORTPI  PEATTE  PROJECT  (SEE  PAGE  427) 

This  structure  will  be  215  feet  high  and  will  create  an  enormous  reservoir,  with  a  storage  capacity  of  1,025,000  acre-feet,  or  enough  water  to 
cover  1,025,000  acres  a  foot  deep.  It  will  be  completed  May  1,  1909,  and  will  cost  $975,000 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


4L9 


CLOSING  COLORADO  RIVER  DURING  CONSTRUCTION  OE  LAGUNA  DAM,  YUMA  PROJECT,  ARIZONA-CALIEORNIA 

Nearly  72,000  cubic  yards  of  material  were  dumped  into  the  stream  before  the  closure  was  effected.  The  Taguna  dam  now  com¬ 
pleted  is  4,780  feet  long,  19  feet  high,  and  weighs  600,000  tons 


420 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


STRETCH  OE  SAGE-BRUSH  DESERT  BEFORE  IT  WAS  LAID  OUT  IN  PIVE-ACRE  TRACTS  EOR  CULTIVATION  I  UMATILLA 

PROJECT,  OREGON  (SEE  PAGE  4 1 7) 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


421 


BAILING  HAY  IN  OREGON  ON  THE  EORMER  SAGE-BRUSH  DESERT 


422 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


feet  high.  On  each  side  large  canals 
take  the  water  out  upon  130,000  acres 
of  desert  land.  This  section  of  Idaho 
has  been  widely  advertised,  and  contains 
several  of  the  largest  irrigation  enter¬ 
prises  ever  built  by  private  capital.  What 
was  astually  an  uninhabited  sage-brush 
plain  in  1902  now  contains  probably 
more  than  20,000  people,  and  its  develop¬ 
ment  has  only  just  begun.  If  the  storage 
supply  proves  adequate,  not  less  than  a 
million  acres  of  exceptionally  fine  land 
will  be  brought  under  cultivation,  and 
this  one  section  will  then  support  a  popu¬ 
lation  equal  to  that  of  the  entire  state. 

Nearly  400,000  acres  of  fertile  land  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Payette  and  Boise 
rivers,  in  southwestern  Idaho,  are  em¬ 
braced  in  a  reclamation  project.  This 
is  a  most  attractive  region  and  prac¬ 
tically  all  of  the  public  lands  have  been 
taken  up.  With  its  advantages  of  soil, 
climate,  and  crops,  these  valleys  will 
support  in  comfort  a  large  population. 
The  progress  made  here  in  the  last  three 
years  presages  nearly  ideal  conditions  of 
rural  life.  Trolley  lines  and  telephones 
now  connect  many  of  the  farms  with 
the  growing  cities.  It  is  possible  even 
now  to  live  in  the  country  25  miles  from 
the  city  and  enjoy  many  of  the  ad¬ 
vantages  of  the  latter.  On  February 
22  of  this  year  the  people  of  the  valley 
formally  celebrated  the  opening  of  the 
first  important  unit  of  this  work.  In  the 
presence  of  several  thousand  people  the 
gates  of  the  big  Boise  dam  were  closed 
and  the  waters  turned  into  a  huge  canal. 
The  Boise  dam  is  400  feet  long  on  top 
and  45  feet  in  height.  An  important  fea¬ 
ture  of  this  project  is  the  Deerflat  reser¬ 
voir,  which  was  created  by  building  two 
very  large  earthen  dams  inclosing  a 
depression  between  the  hills.  One  of 
these  dams  is  4,000  feet  long  and  70  feet 
high ;  the  other  7,200  feet  long  and  40 
feet  high.  The  total  quantity  of  earth 
and  gravel  in  these  dams  is  1,088,800 
cubic  yards.  The  main  canals  in  this 
project  will  have  a  total  length  of  400 
miles. 


IN  PROSPEROUS  COLORADO 

In  Colorado,  one  of  the  pioneer  states 
in  irrigation,  the  government  has  nearly 
completed  one  large  project  and  is  pre¬ 
paring  to  begin  work  upon  another.  The 
first  of  these  is  kown  as  the  Uncompah- 
gre  and  is  located  in  the  western  part  of 
the  state.  In  the  valley  of  the  Uncom- 
pahgre  are  many  thousands  of  acres  of 
fertile  land,  easy  of  access  for  irrigation 
canals,  wanting  only  the  application  of 
water  to  produce  abundant  and  valuable 
crops.  Unfortunately  this  stream  is 
deficient  in  flow  and  erratic  in  regimen. 
The  canal  systems  in  use  were  often  short 
of  water,  and  crops  and  valuable  orchards 
frequently  suffered  from  drouth.  At  a 
distance  sufficiently  near  to  be  tantalizing 
flows  the  Gunnison  with  an  unfailing 
supply,  little  of  which  can  be  used  in  its 
own  valley.  The  two  rivers  flow  in  nearly 
parallel  courses  for  many  miles,  sep¬ 
arated  by  ranges  of  rugged  hills  2,000 
feet  high,  forming  some  of  the  roughest 
country  in  the  West.  The  problem  of 
uniting  the  waters  of  these  two  rivers 
was  often  discussed  by  engineers,  but 
practical  plans  were  never  formulated 
until  a  daring  engineer  of  the  Service, 
at  the  peril  of  his  life,  made  the  neces¬ 
sary  preliminary  surveys. 

For  many  miles  in  its  course  the  Gun¬ 
nison  rushes  through  a  box  canyon,  with 
walls  in  places  3,000  feet  high.  A  por¬ 
tion  of  this  profound  gorge  had  never 
been  explored  until  the  government  en¬ 
gineer  accomplished  the  feat.  The  pre¬ 
liminary  survey,  which  was  made  dur¬ 
ing  that  wild  trip  down  the  river,  showed 
that  the  elevation  of  the  Gunnison  was 
higher  than  that  of  the  Uncompahgre, 
and  proved  the  feasibility  of  transferring 
some  of  the  waters  of  that  stream  by 
means  of  a  tunnel  passing  under  the 
mountain.  It  was  a  stupendous  task,  in¬ 
volving  an  enormous  outlay  of  money 
and  taxing  engineering  skill  and  in¬ 
genuity  to  the  limit.  The  work  of  final 
survey  and  location  was  most  perilouSj 
owing  to  the  necessity  of  making  a  to¬ 
pographic  map  of  the  canyon  and  estab- 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


423 


lishing  precise  levels  at  both  ends  of  the 
tunnel.  Before  construction  could  be  be¬ 
gun  a  road  was  built  into  the  canyon  so 
that  heavy  machinery  could  be  brought 
in.  A  town  sprang  up  at  the  bottom  of 
the  rock-walled  chasm,  a  power  plant 
was  erected,  and  after  many  months  of 
weary  labor  the  drills  began  to  eat  into 
the  granite.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain  another  town  was  established 
and  similar  work  commenced. 

The  total  length  of  the  tunnel  will  be 
nearly  six  miles,  of  which  five  and  a  half 
miles  are  now  completed.  Throughout 
the  entire  period  of  construction  the 
work  has  been  attended  with  difficulty 
and  danger;  gas,  cave-ins,  and  subter¬ 
ranean  springs  of  hot  and  cold  water 
have  interposed  obstacles,  delaying  the 
work  and  requiring  the  utmost  care  in 
its  prosecution. 

The  Uncompahgre  Valley  has  been 
getting  ready  for  the  coming  of  this  new 
water  supply  in  1910,  which  will  make 
fruitful  150,000  acres  of  desert,  and 
which  will  ultimately  become  one  of  the 
rich  agricultural  and  horticultural  dis¬ 
tricts  of  this  continent. 

Colorado’s  second  reclamation  project 
is  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Grand  Junc¬ 
tion  and  embraces  some  50,000  acres  of 
the  best  land  in  the  famous  Grand  Val¬ 
ley — one  of  the  most  favorably  situated 
agricultural  valleys  in  the  world.  This 
is  a  region  where  scientific  fruit-growing 
is  the  rule  and  not  the  exception,  and  as 
a  result  of  the  enterprise  and  intelligence 
of  its  farmers  fruit  lands  here  have  a 
higher  value  than  anywhere  else  on  the 
globe.  The  climate,  soil,  and  elevation 
are  alike  adapted  to  the  growing  of  a 
variety  of  products  which  in  perfection, 
color,  and  flavor  are  unexcelled.  It  re¬ 
quires  no  particular  gift  of  prophecy  to 
foretell  that  when  the  works  are  com¬ 
pleted  this  valley  will  become  one  of  the 
nation’s  show  places.  The  farms  will  be 
small  in  area,  making  the  settlements 
compact ;  intensive  agriculture  will  be 
extended,  and  large  areas  in  high-priced 
fruits  will  be  cultivated.  With  cheap 
water  power  right  at  hand,  trolley  lines 
will  be  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  val¬ 


ley,  affording  facilities  for  cheap  and 
ready  marketing  of  all  products.  There 
is  no  reason  why  farm  life  will  not  ulti¬ 
mately  become  more  nearly  suburban 
than  rural  in  character. 

The  opportunities  which  exist  here  for 
making  a  farmer’s  life  attractive  will  not 
be  overlooked.  We  may  confidently  look 
for  a  citified  country.  Constant  contact 
and  association  with  his  neighbors  will 
bring  about  cooperation  among  the  farm¬ 
ers  both  in  producing  and  marketing  the 
farm  products. 

This  is  not  a  picture  of  fancy ;  it  is  not 
a  dream  of  Utopia ;  rather  is  it  the  in¬ 
evitable  result  of  intensive  and  scientific 
cultivation  of  small  farms,  each  occupied 
by  its  owner  and  family. 

the;  Colorado  river  and  its  problems 

The  Colorado  River,  its  watershed  and 
its  wonderful  delta,  have  long  been  sub¬ 
jects  of  engrossing  interest  to  the  engi¬ 
neers  of  the  West.  The  desert  of  this 
river  is  a  distinctive  feature  in  a  region 
full  of  natural  wonders.  A  large  portion 
of  it  lies  below  sea  level,  and  in  recent 
geologic  period  was  the  bed  of  the  ocean. 
From  earliest  time  this  great  stream, 
rising  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  dis¬ 
tant  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  Utah,  has 
been  carving  out  a  canyon  through  an 
elevated  plateau  more  than  a  mile  deep 
in  places  and  unrivaled  anywhere  in  the 
world  in  scenic  grandeur.  During  count¬ 
less  ages  the  Colorado  has  been  grinding 
to  powder  incalculable  quantities  of  rock 
and  soil,  building  up  a  broad  valley  with 
sedimentary  deposits,  and  elevating  its 
bed  above  the  level  of  the  desert  through 
which  it  flows.  As  a  whole,  the  Colorado 
River  probably  offers  the  most  interest¬ 
ing  as  well  as  the  most  stupendous  en¬ 
gineering  problem  which  exists  in  arid 
America  today.  Solve  it  successfully, 
and  a  million  acres  of  desert  in  this  coun¬ 
try  and  half  a  million  acres  in  Mexico 
will  furnish  homes  for  more  than  a  mil¬ 
lion  people.  No  power  save  that  of  the 
Federal  government  can  cope  success¬ 
fully  with  this  problem.  Mexico  will 
doubtless  be  willing  to  share  her  propor¬ 
tionate  part  in  the  expense  of  storage 


424 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


A 


« 


IRRIGATED  ORANGE)  GROVES  IN  THE  SALT  RIVER  VALLEY,  NEAR  PHOENIX,  ARIZONA  (SEE  PAGE  425) 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


425 


for  water  to  be  utilized  on  lands  belong¬ 
ing  to  that  Republic.  The  problem  in¬ 
volves  interstate  as  well  as  international 
features,  and  will  require  the  expenditure 
of  a  sum  of  money  great  enough  to  makq 
the  work  comparable  with  the  largest 
schemes  for  irrigation  attempted  by  Eng¬ 
land  in  Egypt  or  India.  From  its  head¬ 
waters  in  Utah,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  and 
Arizona  to  the  rainless  delta,  the  river 
must  be  absolutely  controlled.  Enor¬ 
mous  reservoirs  must  be  created  by  build¬ 
ing  dams  in  the  mountain  regions  to  store 
the  floods,  and  hundreds  of  miles  of  ca¬ 
nals  must  be  laid  out  to  carry  the  water 
upon  a  sleeping  empire. 

The  Colorado  desert  is  a  region  unique 
and  wonderful.  Potentially,  it  is  greater 
than  any  area  of  its  size  in  the  world. 
The  fertility  of  its  soil,  its  climatic  adapt¬ 
ability  to  unusual  crops  as  well  as  many 
staples,  make  it  one  of  absorbing  interest 
to  the  agricultural  scientists.  The  first 
important  step  has  been  taken  by  our 
government  for  the  subjugation  of  the 
Colorado.  A  few  weeks  ago  the  engi¬ 
neers  of  the  Service,  after  two  years  of 
difficult  labor,  succeeded  in  placing  a  dam 
across  this  intractable  river.  As  if  re¬ 
sentful  of  any  attempt  to  check  it  in  its 
mad  course  to  the  Gulf,  the  Colorado 
rose  in  flood  to  oppose  the  engineers. 
The  final  struggle  was  of  many  hours’ 
duration  and  full  of  excitement  and 
danger  to  an  army  of  men  who  fought 
bravely  for  hours  against  the  rising  wall 
of  angry  waters.  The  coffer-dams  held 
fast  and  the  Colorado  was  safely  turned 
at  last  into  the  enormous  sluiceways  on 
either  side.  Today  a  solid  wall  of  stone 
and  concrete  4,780  feet  long  and  250  feet 
wide,  tied  to  enduring  hills  of  rock  on 
either  end,  rests  in  the  channel.  Man 
has  again  conquered  the  forces  of  nature, 
and  a  mighty  river,  never  before  con¬ 
trolled,  is  now  a  servant  to  his  hand. 
During  the  present  summer  17,000  acres 
will  be  opened  to  settlers  on  this  project, 
the  lands  lying  in  California. 

in  America’s  egypt 

Arizona  is  America’s  Egypt,  but,  un¬ 
like  the  land  of  the  Pharoahs,  whose 


secrets  are  revealed  to  us  in  hieroglyph¬ 
ics  which  our  wise  men  have  learned 
to  read,  the  history  of  the  ruined  cities 
of  our  Southwest  and  the  race  that  built 
them  is  yet  unfathomed. 

This  is  our  land  of  mystery  and  en¬ 
chantment,  where  nature  has  painted  the 
landscapes  with  the  rainbow’s  hues.  It 
is  the  land  of  the  painted  desert,  with 
its  inspiring  scenery  and  colors ;  it  is  the 
land  of  the  Grand  Canyon,  Nature’s 
architectural  masterpiece,  the  Titan  of 
chasms ;  the  land  of  the  meteoric  moun¬ 
tain  and  the  petrified  forests.  With  re¬ 
sources  of  soil,  minerals,  and  forests  as 
varied  as  the  wonderful  colors  of  the 
landscape ;  with  every  gradation  of  cli¬ 
mate  from  north  temperate  to  semi¬ 
tropic;  with  an  area  double  that  of  New 
England  and  a  population  less  than  that 
of  the  city  of  Washington,  Arizona  is 
yet  practically  undeveloped  and  almost 
unexplored. 

Over  its  vast  expanses  of  divinely 
tinted  desert  wander  the  Bedouins  of  the 
United  States.  Here  and  there  on  the 
higher  mesas,  or  beside  the  deeply  eroded 
waterways,  dwell  the  strangest  people  on 
our  continent. 

This  land  of  mystic  dreams,  of  lost 
races  and  crumbling  ruins,  is  awakening 
to  the  touch  of  modern  civilization.  The 
streams  that  once  swept  on  unchecked 
through  gorge  and  canyon  are  now  being 
spread  upon  a  thirsty  land,  and  emerald- 
tinted  oases  are  dotting  landscapes  which 
for  ages  were  barren  and  desolate. 

After  the  long  and  dusty  ride  across 
Arizona  the  traveler  who  awakes  in 
Phoenix  in  the  early  morning  feels  trans¬ 
ported  into  a  new  world.  He  is  in  a  land 
where  vegetation  is  almost  tropic  in  its 
splendor  and  luxuriance.  Here  are  ave¬ 
nues  of  palms  whose  spreading  branches 
bend  in  graceful  curves.  Here  the  or¬ 
ange,  the  lemon,  the  olive,  and  the  pomelo 
attain  perfection  in  color  and  flavor.  The 
date  palm,  laden  with  luscious  fruit,  the 
bread  of  the  desert ;  the  delicious  fig,  the 
almond,  and  countless  other  donations  of 
generous  nature  are  seen  on  every  hand. 
Broad  fields  of  alfalfa,  yielding  eight  tons 
to  the  acre ;  bumper  yields  of  grain,  veg- 


426 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


etables,  and  small  fruit  reward  the  man 
with  the  hoe  in  this  land  of  sunshine  and 
plenty.  The  soil’s  response  to  tillage 
and  moisture  is  immediate — yea,  almost 
miraculous. 

But  earth  grants  no  harvest  here  with¬ 
out  labor  and  expense.  The  desert,  vast 
and  forbidding,  is  near  and  threatening. 
Its  threat  of  desolation  is  vitalizing;  it 
energizes  the  man  who  engages  in  the 
combat.  It  thrusts  its  boundaries  to  the 
very  edge  of  the  irrigation  canal  which 
embraces  the  oasis.  More  than  once  in 
early  days,  when  the  river  failed,  the 
desert  swept  across  the  ditch  and  engulfed 
the  fields  and  orchards.  Such  disasters 
emphasized  the  need  for  an  assured  water 
supply  and  led  to  the  initiation  of  one  of. 
the  most  stupendous  irrigation  projects 
of  our  time  in  Salt  River  Valley. 

the;  most  difficult  of  all  projects 

In  the  variety  of  the  engineering  prob¬ 
lems,  in  the  magnitude  of  the  works,  and 
in  the  extraordinary  character  and  num¬ 
ber  of  difficulties  surmounted  in  prose¬ 
cuting  the  work,  the  Salt  River  project 
ranks  first  among  the  works  of  the  Rec¬ 
lamation  Service. 

A  few  of  these  difficulties  are  made 
manifest  by  an  inspection  of  the  country 
in  which  the  work  is  going  on.  The  Salt 
River  for  a  number  of  years  furnished 
an  inadequate  supply  of  water  for  the 
needs  of  the  farmers.  At  times  great 
floods  destroyed  important  headworks 
and  caused  heavy  losses  until  the  neces¬ 
sary  repairs  could  not  be  made  for  lack 
of  money.  Near  the  headwaters,  in  an 
almost  inaccessible  mountain  region,  was 
one  of  the  best  natural  reservoir  sites 
in  the  West.  To  develop  it  involved  an 
expenditure  so  vast  that  it  was  beyond 
the  means  of  the  community  to  attempt 
it.  Congress  enacted  the  Reclamation 
Law  and  the  Reclamation  Service  took 
up  the  great  work. 

For  20  miles  across  a  desert  of  cacti 
and  mesquite,  an  absolutely  waterless 
plain,  a  broad  highway  was  laid  out  to 
the  foot  of  the  mountains.  For  40  miles 
further  into  the  most  rugged  mountain 
country  in  the  West  the  road  was  blasted 
from  the  rocks. 


In  scenic  beauty  and  in  artistic  and 
changeful  coloring  no  highway  in  the 
West  compares  with  it.  The  mountains 
are  inspiring  and  the  rocks  are  clothed  in 
richest  colors.  No  language  can  describe 
the  glories  of  the  sunrise  or  sunset  pic¬ 
tures  on  those  crags  and  cliffs,  or  the 
witching  beauty  of  the  deep  canyons 
veiled  in  purple  shadows.  It  is  a  drive, 
once  taken,  never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  entrance  to  the  canyon  which 
Salt  River  has  cut  through  the  moun¬ 
tains  was  selected  as  the  site  of  a  dam. 
This  structure  in  many  respects  will  be 
one  of  the  great  engineering  works  of 
the  age.  At  its  base  it  covers  an  acre 
of  ground.  It  will  rise  284  feet  from 
foundation  to  parapet  and  on  top  it  will 
be  1,080  feet  in  length.  To  erect  such 
a  structure  in  a  region  so  remote  from 
transportation  involved  many  difficulties. 
It  was  necessary  for  the  engineers  to 
qualify  in  many  capacities.  The  govern¬ 
ment  developed  its  own  power  by  con¬ 
structing  a  power  dam  19  miles  up  the 
river  and  turning  the  water  into  a  canal 
which  was  lined  for  miles  with  cement. 
A  drop  of  220  feet  above  the  big  dam 
furnished  4,000  horse-power,  which  was 
utilized  for  many  purposes. 

The  engineers  operated  a  cement  mill 
which  has  turned  out  to  date  more  than 
100,000  barrels  of  first-class  cement. 
Saw-mills  were  set  up  in  the  national 
forest,  30  miles  away,  and  several  mih 
lion  feet  of  lumber  were  cut  and  hauled 
to  the  works.  Two  farms  were  culti¬ 
vated  to  supply  forage  and  provisions, 
hogs  and  beef.  Water  works  and  electric 
light  plants  were  established.  A  city  of 
2,000  people  sprang  up  in  the  valley — a 
town  of  transient  renown,  for  it  has  al¬ 
ready  nearly  disappeared.  For  laborers  the 
government  turned  to  the  Indians  living 
in  the  mountains.  Though  many  of  them 
were  Apaches,  they  proved  tractable  and 
industrious,  and  it  was  largely  by  their 
labor  that  the  remarkable  highway  was 
constructed.  From  the  big  dam  and  from 
drops  in  the  canal  26,000  horse-power 
will  be  developed.  A  part  of  it  will  be 
transmitted  to  the  Sacaton  Indian  reser¬ 
vation  to  pump  water  from  wells  upon 
8,000  acres  belonging  to  the  Pima  In- 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


427 


dians — an  act  of  justice  long  postponed, 
for  the  tribe  was  beggared  by  the  rob¬ 
bery  of  their  water  supply  by  white  men. 

ORLAND  PROJECT,  CALIFORNIA 

This  project  involves  the  reclamation 
of  12,000  acres  of  land  lying  about  90 
miles  north  of  Sacramento,  in  Glenn  and 
Tehama  counties.  The  only  town  within 
the  territory  to  be  irrigated  is  Orland, 
on  the  Southern  Pacific  Raiiroad.  The 
lands  are  exceedingly  fertile,  and  for 
many  years  have  been  cultivated  and 
utilized  for  wheat  growing.  With  irri¬ 
gation  and  the  prevailing  climatic  con¬ 
ditions,  however,  it  has  been  demon¬ 
strated  that  the  land  is  unequaled  for 
the  production  of  alfalfa,  nuts,  and  both 
citrus  and  deciduous  fruits.  Preliminary 
work  on  this  project  is  practically  com¬ 
pleted,  and  advertisement  for  bids  for 
building  the  East  Park  dam  and  spill¬ 
way  will  be  made  in  the  near  future. 
Many  of  the  farmers  are  pledged  to  dis¬ 
pose  of  their  holdings  in  excess  of  160 
acres  to  those  who  wish  to  take  them 
under  the  reclamation  project. 

GARDEN  CITY  PROJECT,  KANSAS 

This  project  consists  of  a  pumping 
system  for  the  recovery  of  underground 
waters,  which  are  delivered  into  a  con¬ 
duit  leading  to  an  old  distributing  canal, 
known  as  the  Farmers’  Ditch.  The 
plant  consists  of  twenty-three  pumping 
stations,  each  driven  electrically  from  a 
central  power  station.  There  are  10,656 
acres  of  irrigable  land  in  the  project, 
lying  in  the  vicinity  of  Garden  City,  on 
the  north  side  of  Arkansas  River,  town¬ 
ships  22  to  24  south,  ranges  32  to  35 
west,  sixth  principal  meridian,  Finney 
County. 

The  lands  are  all  in  private  ownership, 
but  there  are  some  excess  holdings  for 
sale.  The  soil  is  a  rich  prairie  loam, 
capable  of  the  highest  cultivation,  and* 
well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  grain, 
sugar  beets,  cantaloupes,  alfalfa,  and 
other  crops  of  the  plains  region.  The 
average  elevation  of  the  area  under  this 
project  is  2,925  feet  above  sea  level,  and 
the  temperature  ranges  from  20°  below 


to  105°  above  zero.  The  Atchison,  To¬ 
peka,  and  Santa  Fe  Railway  furnishes 
transportation  for  the  products  to  the 
local  markets  and  to  Chicago  and  Kan¬ 
sas  City.  The  water-right  charge  is  $35 
per  acre  of  irrigable  land,  and  the  farm¬ 
ers  are  also  required  to  pay  an  annual 
maintenance  and  operation  fee,  which  at 
present  amounts  to  $2.75  per  acre. 

NORTH  PLATTE  PROJECT,  NEBRASKA- 
WYOMING 

This  project  is  located  about  100  miles 
north  of  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  and  ex¬ 
tends  along  the  North  Platte  River. 
About  60,000  acres  of  land,  practically 
all  of  which  has  been  filed  upon,  will  be 
supplied  with  water  in  1909.  The  land 
is  tributary  to  the  Chicago  and  North¬ 
western,  Burlington  and  Missouri  River, 
and  Union  Pacific  railroads.  The  aver¬ 
age  elevation  is  4,100  feet  above  sea-* 
level,  and  the  temperature  ranges  from 
25 0  below  to  ioo°  above  zero.  The 
average  annual  rainfall  on  the  irrigable 
area  is  about  15  inches. 

The  soil  is  a  fertile,  sandy  loam,  quite 
free  from  alkali,  and  requiring  23/2  acre- 
feet  of  water  per  acre  per  annum.  Al¬ 
falfa  is  the  principal  crop,  but  cereals, 
sugar  beets,  and  potatoes  are  success¬ 
fully  grown.  Excellent  range  country 
borders  the  irrigable  lands  in  Wyoming. 

The  farm  unit  has  been  fixed  at  80 
acres,  and  the  building  charge  is  $45  per 
acre.  There  is  also  an  annual  charge 
for  operation  and  maintenance,  which  is 
40  cents  per  acre  at  present.  The  water¬ 
shed  area  is  12,000  square  miles,  and 
the  estimated  annual  run-off  of  water¬ 
shed  at  Pathfinder  dam  is  1,500,000 
acre- feet. 

TRUCKEE-C ARSON  PROJECT,  NEVADA 

This  project  is  located  in  western  Ne¬ 
vada,  in  Churchill,  Lyon,  and  Storey 
counties,  townships  16  to  24  north,  ranges 
21  to  31  east,  Mount  Diablo  meridian. 
The  first  unit  of  the  project  was  opened 
in  1907,  and  lands  are  now  subject  to 
homestead  entry.  In  addition  to  the 
land-office  filing  fee,  erch  settler  is  re¬ 
quired  to  pay  $3  per  acre  annually  for 


428 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


PUMPKINS  IN  AN  ORCHARD:  YAKIMA  PROJECT,  WASHINGTON  (SEE  PAGE  416) 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


429 


SCENC  ON  A  TURKEY  EARM  ON  THE  GARDEN  CITY  PROJECT,  KANSAS  (SEE  PAGE  427) 


430 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


A  MIGEET  FlEGD  ON  TH E  TRUCKFF-C ARSON  PROJECT,  IN  NEVADA  (SEE  PAGE  431) 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


431 


♦ 


* 


ten  years,  without  interest  on  deferred 
payments.  An  annual  maintenance  fee 
is  charged  in  addition.  The  first  pay¬ 
ment  of  $3.60  per  acre  must  be  paid  at 
the  time  of  filing  on  the  land;  the  farm 
unit  is  80  acres. 

The  climate  in  this  valley  is  healthful 
and  mild,  the  elevation  above  sealevel 
is  about  4,000  feet,  and  the  temperature 
ranges  from  1 2°  below  to  1120  above 
zero.  It  is  so  dry,  however,  that  the  ex¬ 
tremes,  which  seldom  occur,  are  not 
severe.  The  average  rainfall  on  the  ir¬ 
rigable  area  is  4  inches  per  annum.  The 
soil  is  sandy  loam,  clay  loam,  and  vol¬ 
canic  ash,  requiring  3  acre-feet  of  water 
per  annum  for  each  acre.  The  valley 
will  produce  every  variety  of  crop  grown 
in  the  north  temperate  zone ;  alfalfa, 
wheat,  barley,  and  oats  grow  luxuriantly, 
and  corn  is  also  a  profitable  crop.  Ap¬ 
ples,  pears,  peaches,  apricots,  cherries, 
potatoes,  and  garden  vegetables  do  well 
and  find  a  ready  market  in  the  near-by 
mining  towns.  The  Southern  Pacific  and 
Nevada  and  California  railroads  traverse 
the  tract  and  furnish  transportation  to 
the  markets  of  the  country. 

RIO  GRANDE  PROJECT,  NEW  MEXICO-TEXAS 

This  project  contemplates  the  reclama¬ 
tion  of  180,000  acres  of  land,  110,000 
of  which  are  in  New  Mexico,  45,000  in 
Texas,  and  25,000  in  Mexico. 

The  Leasburg  dam,  for  the  first  unit 
of  the  Rio  Grande  project,  is  completed, 
diverting  water  for  20,000  acres  in  Me- 
silla  Valley.  It  is  of  concrete,  600-feet 
long,  with  sluice  and  head  gates.  From 
the  diversion  dam  6  miles  of  canal  were 
constructed  to  connect  with  the  old  Las 
Cruces  Canal. 

The  Engle  dam,  which  is  planned  to 
be  constructed  across  the  Rio  Grande  op¬ 
posite  Engle,  will  be  of  rubble  concrete, 
gravity  type,  255  feet  high,  1,150  feet 
long  on  top,  and  will  create  a  reservoir 
200  feet  deep  at  its  lower  end  and  45 
miles  long,  with  a  storage  capacity  of 
2,000,000  acre-feet.  Work  has  com¬ 
menced  at  the  dam  site  and  will  be  prose¬ 
cuted  as  rapidly  as  the  state  of  the  rec¬ 


lamation  fund  will  permit.  The  valley 
has  good  railroad  facilities,  and  con¬ 
tains  many  thriving  towns,  of  which  El 
Paso,  Texas,  is  the  metropolis. 

The  general  elevation  is  3,85°  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  the  temperature 
ranges  from  zero  to  no°  above.  The 
average  annual  rainfall  on  the  irrigable 
area  is  9.5  inches.  The  soil  is  a  fertile 
alluvium,  requiring  2.y2  acre-feet  of 
water  per  acre  per  annum.  It  produces 
abundant  crops  when  sufficient  water  is 
applied,  the  principal  products  being  al¬ 
falfa,  corn,  fruit,  vegetables,  and  melons. 

CARESBAD  PROJECT,  NEW  MEXICO 

The  principal  works  under  the  Carls¬ 
bad  project  include  the  reconstruction  of 
canals  and  storage  reservoirs  on  Pecos 
River,  in  Eddy  County,  which  were  built 
to  irrigate  about  20,000  acres  of  land. 
These  lands  are  all  in  private  ownership, 
but  several  thousand  acres  are  included 
in  excess  holdings  and  may  be  pur¬ 
chased.  The  price  of  these  lands  varies 
from  $20  to  $60  per  acre.  The  cost  of 
water  right  is  $31  per  acre,  payable  in 
ten  annual  installments,  and  the  annual 
maintenance  and  operation  fee  is  75 
cents  per  acre. 

The  general  elevation  is  3,100  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  the  temperature 
ranges  from  zero  to  no°  above.  The 
soil  is  a  light,  sandy  alluvium  and  very 
fertile.  The  principal  crops  in  the  val¬ 
ley  are  peaches,  pears,  apples,  cherries, 
small  fruits,  alfalfa,  cotton,  sweet  po¬ 
tatoes,  celery,  and  garden  truck.  Fod¬ 
der,  corn,  cane,  and  milo  maize  produce 
good  crops.  Stock-raising  is  very  profit¬ 
able,  owing  to  the  extensive  range  lands 
on  the  east  and  west.  The  Santa  Fe 
Railway  furnishes  transportation  facili¬ 
ties  to  near-by  markets  and  to  Denver 
and  Chicago. 

The  watershed  area  is  22,000  square 
miles,  the  average  annual  rainfall  on 
watershed  area  is  15  inches,  and  the  esti¬ 
mated  annual  run-off,  150,000  acre-feet. 
The  average  annual  rainfall  on  the  ir¬ 
rigable  area  is  14  inches.  The  system  is 
practically  completed. 


432 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


SHEEP  ON  THE  TRUCKEE-CARSON  PROJECT  OF  NEVADA,  WHERE  WAS  DESERT  COUNTRY  BEFORE  THE  GOVERNMENT  ENGINEERS  CAME 

(see  page  427) 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


433 


HONDO  PROJECT,  NEW  MEXICO 

The  Hondo  project  provides  for  the 
diversion  and  storage  of  the  flood  waters 
from  Hondo  River,  a  tributary  of  the 
Pecos,  to  irrigate  10,000  acres  of  land 
in  Chaves  County,  near  Roswell.  The 
lands  are  all  in  private  ownership,  but 
excess  holdings  may  be  purchased  at 
reasonable  prices.  The  general  elevation 
is  3,900  feet  above  sea  level,  and  the  tem¬ 
perature  ranges  from  io°  below  to  ioo° 
above  zero.  The  soil  is  a  fertile  alluvium 
and  requires  2j4  acre-feet  of  water  per 
acre  per  annum.  Alfalfa,  corn,  fruits, 
and  vegetables  produce  abundantly  when 
properly  watered.  The  Santa  Fe  Rail¬ 
way  furnishes  transportation  facilities. 
The  building  charge  is  $28  per  acre. 

The  watershed  area  is  1,037  square 
miles,  the  average  annual  rainfall  on 
watershed  is  15  inches,  and  the  estimated 
annual  run-off  is  40,000  acre-feet. 

PUMPING  PROJECTS,  NORTH  DAKOTA 

The  government  has  several  pumping 
projects  in  western  North  Dakota  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  water  from  the 
Missouri  River  to  irrigate  bench  lands 
which  cannot  be  reached  by  feasible 
gravity  systems.  Steam  and  electric 
power  are  used  for  pumping,  the  power 
being  developed  from  lignite  coal,  which 
is  found  in  ample  quantities  adjacent  to 
the  projects.  Two  of  these  systems  are 
already  in  operation,  the  Williston  and 
the  Buford-Trenton. 

Williston  Project. — The  initial  unit  of 
this  project  includes  about  8,000  acres 
of  bench  and  valley  lands  surrounding 
Williston,  but  the  system  will  be  en¬ 
larged  to  cover  12,000  acres.  The  gen¬ 
eral  elevation  is  1,900  feet  above  sea- 
level  ;  the  temperature  ranges  from  590 
below  to  107°  above  zero.  The  soil  of  the 
bottom  lands  is  a  heavy  clay,  with  a  con¬ 
siderable  quantity  of  alkali.  The  bench 
lands,  however,  are  a  rich,  sandy  loam, 
requiring  2  acre-feet  of  water  per  acre 
per  annum.  The  principal  crops  grown 
are  wheat,  flax,  and  oats.  The  supply 
of  oats  is  always  far  short  of  the  de¬ 
mand.  Alfalfa  is  profitably  grown  for 


winter  feed,  and  sugar  beets  are  likely 
to  become  an  important  crop.  Small 
fruits  do  well  if  protected  from  the 
winds,  and  dairy  farms  and  market 
gardens  are  needed.  The  state  experi¬ 
ment  farm  near  Williston  is  of  great  as¬ 
sistance  in  demonstrating  the  value  and 
methods  of  irrigation  to  the  farmers. 

The  main  line  of  the  Great  Northern 
Railroad  passes  through  Williston,  which 
is  the  distributing  point  for  this  section  of 
the  state. 

The  Buford-Trenton  project  embraces 
the  bench  and  bottom  lands  bordering 
the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri  River  for 
about  20  miles  east  of  the  Montana- 
North  Dakota  state  line.  Power  for  the 
pumps  on  this  project  is  developed  at  the 
main  power  station  at  Williston,  and  is 
transmitted  electrically  over  a  transmis¬ 
sion  line  28  miles  long. 

The  climate  and  crop  conditions  are 
practically  the  same  as  those  at  Williston,. 
and  the  building,  operation,  and  main¬ 
tenance  charges  are  the  same  as  under 
that  project.  The  project  embraces 
about  12,500  acres  of  bench  and  bottom 
lands  on  the  Great  Northern  Railroad. 
Practically  all  the  land  is  in  private  own¬ 
ership,  but  farmers  owning  more  than 
160  acres  are  required  to  sell  their  ex¬ 
cess  holdings,  and  farms  can  be  bought 
at  from  $15  to  $25  per  acre. 

BEEEE  EOURCHE  PROJECT,  SOUTH  DAKOTA 

When  completed  this  project  will  re¬ 
claim  about  100,000  acres  of  land  lying- 
north  and  northeast  of  the  Black  Hills* 
in  Butte  and  Meade  counties,  South  Da¬ 
kota.  The  greater  part  of  this  land  has 
already  been  filed  on.  Water  is  now 
available  for  about  15,000  acres.  There 
is  a  large  amount  of  land  in  private 
ownership  which,  on  account  of  the 
ruling  limiting  the  individual  water  sup¬ 
ply  to  160  acres,  is  offered  for  sale  at 
from  $10  to  $20  per  acre,  depending 
upon  improvements  and  location.  The 
farm  unit  on  public  lands  is  40  and  80 
acres.  Settlers  are  required  to  pay  a 
building  charge  of  $30  per  acre,  and  an 
annual  fee  of  40  cents  per  acre  for  opera¬ 
tion  and  maintenance. 


434 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


The  average  elevation  is  2,800  feet 
above  sea  level.  The  climate  is  delight¬ 
ful,  the  temperature  ranging  from  25 0 
"below  to  ioo°  above  zero.  As  in  other 
parts  of  the  arid  region,  the  sensible 
temperature  does  not  vary  so  much, 
■owing  to  the  dryness  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  soil  is  clay  loam  and  sandy  loam,  ex¬ 
ceedingly  fertile  and  free  from  alkali. 
Fruits,  such  as  apples,  cherries,  plums, 
and  small  fruits,  do  well,  especially  on 
the  higher  portions  of  the  project  near 
the  bluffs,  and  potatoes  can  be  raised  on 
the  south  side  of  the  river,  where  the 
soil  is  more  sandy.  The  main  crop, 
however,  is  alfalfa  and  native  hay,  which 
is  in  great  demand  for  winter  feed,  the 
great  number  of  cattle  and  sheep  sum¬ 
mer-pastured  on  the  open  range  sur¬ 
rounding  the  project  creating  a  constant 
demand  for  alfalfa.  All  the  fruits  and 
vegetables  that  can  be  raised  on  the 
project  can  be  sold  at  the  mining  camps 
in  the  Black  Hills.  The  Chicago  and 
Northwestern  Railroad  passes  through 
the  town  of  Belle  Fourche,  which  is  one 
of  the  largest  live-stock  shipping  points 
in  the  United  States. 

The  engineering  work  on  this  project 
involves  the  construction  of  one  of  the 
largest  earth  embankments  in  the  coun¬ 
try,  which  is  being  built  in  a  depression 
between  two  hills.  It  will  be  1 1 5  feet 
high,  20  feet  wide  on  top,  and  more  than 
a  mile  long.  The  reservoir  thus  created 
will  be  filled  with  water  by  an  inlet  canal, 
which  carries  the  entire  flow  of  the  Belle 
Fourche  River. 

STRAWBERRY  VALLEY  PROJECT,  UTAH 

This  project  provides  for  the  irriga¬ 
tion  of  about  60,000  acres  of  land  in  Utah 
and  Wasatch  counties,  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  Utah  Lake.  The  water  supply 
will  be  obtained  from  a  storage  reservpir 
that  is  being  built  in  Strawberry  Valley, 
about  30  miles  east  of  the  irrigable  area. 
By  means  of  a  tunnel  four  miles  long 
the  stored  waters  will  be  carried  through 
the  mountains  and  emptied  into  Spanish 
Fork,  from  which  a  canal  18  to  20  miles 
long  will  convey  them  to  the  irrigable 
area.  Power  created  from  the  high-line 


canal  is  now  transmitted  electrically  to 
the  tunnel  for  drilling  and  later  will  be 
utilized  to  pump  water  to  lands  above 
the  gravity  system. 

The  lands  have  an  elevation  of  about 
4,500  feet,  and  the  temperature  ranges 
from  1 8°  below  to  990  above  zero.  The 
soil  is  a  sandy  loam  and  gravel,  with  a 
deep  black  soil  in  the  bottom  lands,  and 
is  exceedingly  fertile.  Alfalfa,  hay,  ce¬ 
reals,  sugar  beets,  fruits,  and  vegetables 
are  grown.  Settlers  are  getting  ready  to 
plant  orchards  as  soon  as  water  is  avail¬ 
able.  The  lands  are  all  in  private  owner¬ 
ship,  and  existing  canals  are  being  en¬ 
larged  to  form  part  of  the  government 
system.  It  is  possible  to  purchase  lands 
at  reasonable  prices  from  present  owners. 

The  watershed  area  is  200  square 
miles,  the  annual  rainfall  on  watershed 
18  inches,  and  the  estimated  annual  run¬ 
off  65,600  acre-feet.  This  valley  has  one 
of  the  finest  domestic  water  supplies  in 
the  west,  artesian  water  being  found  at 
many  points. 

THE  DEMOCRACY  0E  THE  DESERT 

The  democracy  of  the  irrigated  sec¬ 
tions  always  impresses  the  newcomer. 
It  is  due  to  the  .small  farm,  the  inde¬ 
pendence  of  the  owners,  and  the  social 
equality  of  the  people.  Conditions  com¬ 
pel  association  and  organization  in  har¬ 
vesting  and  marketing  high-priced  prod¬ 
ucts.  The  narrow  provincialism  which 
has  marked  life  where  farms  are  large  is 
not  found  here.  Rural  delivery  of  mails, 
with  daily  papers,  the  county  telephone, 
traveling  libraries,  centralized  schools, 
and  trolley  lines  to  the  towns  are  all 
serving  to  bring  the  desert  farmer  within 
the  stimulating  currents  of  the  world’s 
thought.  One  of  the  most  prominent 
farm  editors  in  America  recently  said  to 
me:  “In  the  irrigated  West  there  will 
be  developed  in  time  the  most  nearly 
ideal  conditions  of  rural  life  and  the  best 
types  of  men  and  women  the  world  has 
ever  seen.” 

A  summation  of  the  work  of  the  Rec¬ 
lamation  Service  up  to  January  1,  1909, 
shows  that  it  has  built  more  than  3,458 
miles  of  canals  and  ditches,  some  of 


THE  CALL  OF  THE  WEST 


435 


K.  VAN  DER  AARDE  AND  ONE  OE  HIS  WINESAP  APPLE  TREES  I  YAKIMA  PROJECT 

WASHINGTON  (SEE  PAGE  416) 


436 


THE  NATIONAL  GEOGRAPHIC  MAGAZINE 


SEEDLESS  SULTANA  GRAPES  GROWN  BY  IRRIGATION  NEAR  CARLSBAD,  NEW  MEXICO 

(see  page  431) 


THE  CAEE  OF  THE  WEST 


437 


OUTLINE  MAP  SHOWING  THE  LOCATION  OP  THE  GOVERNMENT  RECLAMATION 

PROJECTS 


which  carry  whole  rivers.  Laid  end  to 
end,  these  canals  would  reach  from  New 
York  to  San  Francisco.  It  has  in  opera¬ 
tion  more  than  983  miles  of  telephone 
lines.  It  has  built  338  miles  of  roads, 
most  of  which  are  in  a  country  heretofore 
inaccessible.  The  tunnels  excavated  have 
a  total  length  of  more  than  16  miles. 
Nearly  one  million  acres  are  now  ready 
for  irrigation,  embracing  4,686  farms. 


The  construction  works  completed  include 
793  bridges  and  7,297  canal  structures, 
such  as  dams,  headgates,  turnouts,  drops, 
etc. 

The  excavations  of  rock  and  earth 
moved  amount  to  the  enormous  total  of 
54,889,977  cubic  yards.  It  is  estimated 
that  as  a  result  of  the  activities  of  this 
bureau  more  than  20,000  people  are  now 
established  in  homes  in  the  arid  West. 


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